Plug connector having a housing and a clamping insert

ABSTRACT

A plug connector has, in a housing, an insulating member, which in a known manner receives contact elements, for example, contact pins and/or contact sockets, which are connected to individual wires or strands of an electrical cable. The plug connector also includes a clamping member or clamping insert in order to also fix the electrical cable relative to the housing, which takes place by a clamping nut, preferably by a union nut. In order to easily assemble these parts and to maintain a given spacing in the axial direction, the insulating member and the clamping member are connected by at least one, and preferably a plurality of spacers, with a radially open interspace remaining free laterally of the spacers, and between insulating member and clamping member. The insulating member and the clamping member are preferably separate parts, which can be reciprocally connected by the spacers.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a plug connector having a housing, in which aninsulating member is arranged containing an electrical contact element,for example contact pins and/or contact sockets. The contact elementsare connected with individual wires or strands of an electrical cable inthe use position. A clamping member for this electrical cable isarranged in the use position axially spaced from the insulating member.The housing of the plug connector has a counter-thread for a clampingnut cooperating with the clamping member, in particular for a union nut.

Plug connectors of this type are known. As a rule, the insulating membercontains either contact pins or contact sockets, so that it is madepossible reciprocally to plug together the plug halves. Mounting of theparts to be placed one behind the other in the axial direction is thendifficult; above all, the clamping insert or clamping member has to beinserted with great care, since it already encloses the cable, which inits turn is connected to the contact elements held by the insulatingmember. The insulating member and the clamping member in their endposition are provided with an axial space between them, since this makesit possible to let an outer screening of the cable, as a rule ascreening braid, to emerge radially between the mutually facing endsides of the clamping member and the insulating member, so that theoutward facing or bent-around portion of the screening or of screeningwires can be turned up, in particular conductively, between this and theouter housing. During assembly, i.e., during the axial introduction ofthe insulating member and of the clamping member, in some circumstancesrelative movements between these two parts can arise, so that wires ofthe electrical screening can come to lie in an undesired position, inthe worst case even in touching contact with the contact elements.

SUMMARY

The invention thus has the object of providing a plug connector of thekind mentioned at the beginning, in which assembly is facilitated andthe danger of incorrect positioning of wires of an optionally presentscreening is prevented to the extent possible.

To attain this object, the initially defined plug connector ischaracterized in that the insulating member and the clamping member areconnected by at least one spacer, and a radially open interspace betweenthe insulating member and the clamping member remains free laterally ofthis spacer.

By this connection of the insulating member and the clamping member by aspacer, relative movements between these parts during insertion andfixing in the housing are avoided. It is nevertheless possible tofixedly connect individual strands to the contact elements—possiblybefore their insertion into the insulating member—and if necessarythereafter to deform an optionally present screening radially outward inthe region of the interspace between the insulating member and theclamping member and against the plug-in direction, so that a portion ofthe electrical screening, thereby located on the outside, comes to abutin the use position on the inside of the at least partially electricallyconducting housing, and cooperates with this housing, which is as a rulemetallized or metallic or otherwise electrically conducting. Themounting of the individual parts in the housing is in any case, evenwithout screening, simplified by their connection at the requiredspacing.

It is particularly favorable if the spacer is arranged in the region ofthe outer periphery of the insulating member and the clamping member andconnecting these. It is then located at least near to the inside of thehousing. An unimpeded through passage of the cable and its strands fromthe clamping member to the insulating member results thereby.

For a stable and effective embodiment of the invention it is suitablefor at least two spacers, running at a spacing and in particularmutually parallel, to be provided between the insulating member and theclamping member, and distributed at the periphery, and to have arespective interspace between them, which is connected with the innerinterspace between the insulating member and the clamping member, orrespectively merges into this. The connection between the insulatingmember and the clamping member thereby becomes more stable, withoutpreventing the possibility of deforming wires or braid portions of ascreening of the cable located within, outward into the region of theinside of the housing.

An embodiment of the invention of quite special importance can comprisethe insulating member and the clamping member being two separateindividual parts, which are subsequently connected in their use positionand held at a mutual distance by means of the spacer(s). This makes itpossible, first in a convenient manner to connect the strands with thecontact elements of the insulating member, and to bring an optionallypresent screening braid with respect to the clamping member into its useposition and then before assembly, or respectively before introductionof these portions into the housing, to connect the insulating member andthe clamping member by means of the spacer so that thereafter relativemovements between these parts are no longer possible.

For subsequent connection of the insulating member and the clampingmember, a latch or snap connection can be provided. These parts canthereby be plugged together by an axial movement and be quickly broughtinto the use position, without for example a relative rotation beingrequired for the mutual connection.

One preferred embodiment can provide that at least one of the spacers isformed as a portion of the latch connection between the insulatingmember and the clamping member. This spacer thereby obtains a functionadditional to that of setting the axial distance between the insulatingmember and the clamping member, namely the function of also producingthe mutual connection.

It can be advantageous if two, three, four, or more spacers oriented inthe axial direction are provided, of which at least one, and preferablya plurality or all, is/are formed as latch fingers, and at the end ofsuch a latch finger there is provided a latch projection for latching ina counter-opening, for example in an annular groove, or a latch apertureprovided for engagement of a latch projection. Above all, with theformation of more or all spacers as latch fingers, there results astable connection which however is releasable under given circumstances.

The spacers can be arranged integrally on the insulating member, and theclamping member can then have the latch aperture or latch projections.It is thereby above all possible to use the clamping member in othercases of application, since it itself is free of spacers. It can also beused in such cases in which no plug connector is to be produced, and noinsulating member is present. The clamping insert is also available inthe same size and shape also for other clamping screw connections.

An advantageous embodiment of the plug connector according to theinvention can provide that the spacers are formed as latching fingerswith radially inwardly directed latch projections, and as acounter-recess(es) on the counterpart member, in particular on theclamping member or the insulating member, an annular groove is providedinto which the latch projections of the spacers pass and can be latched.The annular groove has the advantage that care does not have to be takenabout an exact opposite alignment of clamping member and insulatingmember in the reciprocal plug assembly.

The latchable spacer(s) can comprise elastically flexible material andbe bendable outside the housing of the plug connector for releasing thelatch connection. Both latching and possible separation of clampingmember and insulating member could thus be performed without problemsoutside the housing. However, within the housing an elastic bending ofthe spacers outward in the radial direction—which acts to release thelatch connection—is blocked by the housing, so that the latch connectionis unreleasably set in the use position by the housing enclosing thewhole unit.

This can be further advanced in that the spacers running somewhatoutside between the insulating member and the clamping member are nearlyor about flush with the outsides or surfaces of the insulating member orthe clamping member which in the use position lie close to the innerside of the housing or even contact this inner side.

It can thus be attained above all by a combination of the precedingmeasures that the spacers formed as latch fingers, with their latchprojections latching from outside in a counter-recess or annular groove,are fixed in their latching position by the housing which encloses themin the use position. Tension forces acting on the cable aresubstantially taken up by the clamping screw connection, and so can inno case act on the connection of the wires or strands of the cable withthe contact elements.

So that the plug connector includes as few parts as possible, it isappropriate if the spacer(s) are integrally connected to one of theparts held apart, in particular with the insulating member or theclamping member. This can already take place during manufacture, so thatno additional assembly is needed for installation of the spacer(s).

A particularly advantageous development can be provided in that theintegral connection of the spacer(s) with the clamping member or withthe insulating member has a predetermined breaking point. It is therebypossible to break off the spacer(s) and to use the clamping member andabove all the insulating member for plug connectors which contain nocable screw connection, but for example are installed fixed to a pieceof equipment.

Above all, by combination of a single or a plurality of features andmeasures as described hereinabove, a plug connector results whichpermits a fixed connection of the cable and the strands, and a simpleradial deformation of a portion of the cable screening between theclamping member and the insulating member, without difficulties ofmutual positioning and of maintaining the required mutual distancearising when introducing the insulating member and the clamping memberinto the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are hereinafter described indetail hereinafter with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the individual parts of the plug connectoraccording to the invention, before reciprocal assembly, the contactelements being already connected to wires, and a screening of aconnection cable at its end, where the wire strands come out of it andare radially bent outward; the contact elements are however not yetaxially connected to the insulating member.

FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 after the introduction ofthe contact elements into the insulating member and after its axialconnection with the clamping member or clamping insert, before theinsertion of the insulating member and clamping insert into the housingof the plug connector, and before the screwing on of the union nut onthe external thread located at one end of the housing, from which theclamping fingers of the clamping insert stand out axially in the useposition,

FIG. 3 is a side view on an enlarged scale and partially in longitudinalsection, of the plug connector according to the invention afterassembly, and

FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 of a modified embodiment, inwhich spacers between clamping finger and insulating member areintegrally connected to the clamping member, and

FIG. 5 is a diagram, corresponding to FIG. 2, of the embodimentaccording to FIG. 4, after the introduction of the contact elements intothe insulating member and after its axial connection to the clampingmember before the insertion of the insulating member and of the clampinsert into the housing of the plug connector and before the union nutis screwed on.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A plug connector, denoted overall by 1 in FIG. 1, has a housing 2, inwhich after assembly (cf. FIG. 3) an insulating member 3 is arranged,and contains the electrical contact elements 4, in the embodimentaccording to FIGS. 1-3 contact pins, and in the embodiment according toFIGS. 4 and 5 instead of these or additionally, contact sockets. Thesecontact elements 4 according to FIGS. 1-5 are connected in the useposition with individual wires or strands 5 of an electrical cable 6,which can be seen particularly clearly in FIGS. 1 and 4, where thisconnection is already formed, but the contact elements are not yetinserted into the insulating member 3.

The plug connector 1 furthermore has a clamping insert or clampingmember 7 for the electrical cable 6 for fixing it axially, which isarranged in the use position according to FIG. 3 and also already in thepreassembly position according to FIG. 2 with an axial space from theinsulating member 3. The housing 2 of the plug connector 1 has acounter-thread 8 for a clamping nut, in this embodiment a union nut 9,cooperating with the clamping member 7. According to this, thecounter-thread 8 is an external thread.

It is shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 that the insulating member 3 and theclamping member 7 are connected by spacers 10, and laterally from thespacer(s) 10 a radially open interspace 11 remains free between theinsulating member 3 and the clamping member 7.

While in the arrangement according to FIGS. 1 and 4 the insulatingmember 3 and the clamping member 7 are not yet connected, this isperformed in the arrangement according to FIG. 2, so that the unit ofinsulating member 3 and clamping member 7, together with the alreadyconnected cable 6 according to FIG. 1, can be pushed into the housing 2.Relative movements between insulating member 3 and clamping member 7 areprevented by the spacer 10 during this assembly.

Nevertheless it is possible according to FIGS. 1 and 4 to carefullyconnect the individual strands or wires 5 with the contact elements 4,then to insert these into the insulating member 3, and thereafter toproduce the rigid connection between insulating member 3 and clampingmember 7 for the subsequent assembly. A screening 12 of the cable 1 canbe seen in the figures, bent around at the emergence of the strands 5from the cable 6 such that this screening 12 obtains the desired contactwith the housing 2 within this housing.

It is also advantageous for this that an interspace 11 is establishedbetween the insulating member 3 and the clamping member 7, and is alsoopen radially outward between the spacers 10, so that the screening 12is accessible if required and possibly can still be corrected in itsposition, when the connection is produced between the insulating member3 and the clamping member 7 according to FIGS. 2 and 5. Apart from this,this interspace 11 and the distance between the spacers 10 prevent thescreening 12 undergoing undesired position changes on connecting theinsulating member 3 with the clamping member 7.

It thereby can be seen from FIGS. 1-5 that the spacers 10 are arrangedgenerally in the region of the outer periphery of the insulating member3 and the clamping member 7, connecting these. Thus a through interspace11 results in the interior and leaves free and makes possible a freepassage for the contact elements 4 and the strands (wires) 5.

The spacers 10 respectively also have a spacing between them and extendmutually parallel between insulating member 3 and clamping member 7, andare preferably distributed uniformly at the periphery. They thus haverespectively between them an interspace or an aperture which isconnected with the interspace 11 between the insulating member 3 and theclamping member 7, so that also after the connection of the insulatingmember 3 with the clamping member 7, the interspace 11 and thebent-around and turned up screening 12 arranged therein is accessible.

It can above all be seen from FIGS. 1 and 4 that the insulating member 3and the clamping member 7 are properly two separate parts, which intheir use position according to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 are subsequentlyconnected, and at the same time held at a spaced apart distance, by thespacer(s) 10. The spacers 10 thus have the additional function ofproducing the connection between insulating member 3 and clamping member7.

Here for subsequent connection of the insulating member 3 and theclamping member 7, a latch or snap connection is provided, which can bevery easily effected by an axial guiding together of the parts intotheir use position, so that rotational movements are thus avoided duringthis reciprocal connection with a corresponding torsion of the cable 6.

The spacers 10 are advantageously formed as a portion of the latchconnection between insulating member 3 and clamping member 7, in thatthey are shaped as latch fingers which have at their end a latchprojection 13 for latching in a counter-aperture, provided as an annulargroove 14 in the exemplary embodiment.

In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3, the spacer 10 is arrangedintegrally on the insulating member 3, while the clamping member 7 hasthe latch aperture formed as an annular groove 14. By the formation ofthe latch aperture as an annular groove 14, the two parts can be pluggedtogether in an optional orientation relative to a rotation axis or elsebe brought into an appropriate position by a slight rotation which isfavorable for the course of the strands 5 relative to the contactelements 4 and to the insulating member 3 receiving the contactelements.

The spacers 10 are thus formed as latch fingers, which are shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 as detail enlarged in the circle. They have the alreadymentioned, inwardly-directed latch projections 13, which fit into theannular groove 14, and latch-in during assembly.

These latchable spacers 10 are formed of elastically flexible material,so that they can also be released again from the latch connection,outside the housing 2 of the plug connector 1, in that they can be bentup a little. This flexibility can be further enhanced by a materialweakening provided at the initial position of the spacer 10 andsimultaneously representing a predetermined breaking point 15.

It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the spacers 10 extending generally onthe outside between insulating member 3 and clamping member 7 have theirouter surfaces nearly flush with the outer sides or surfaces of theinsulating member 3 or the clamping member 7, and in each case abut inthe use position on the inside of the housing 2, and thus are preventedfrom an undesired bending against their stop or latch position by thehousing 2. They are thus fixed in this use position from outside by thehousing 2 in their blocking or latched-in position. If the housing isremoved, they can however be released again, so that a repair orexchange of parts is possible.

In an advantageous manner, the spacers 10 are integrally connected tothe insulating member 3, so that the whole arrangement has as few aspossible individual parts. The integral connection of the spacers 10with the insulating member 3 has however the said predetermined breakingpoint 15, which on the one hand facilitates the pivoting or bending ofthe spacers, but also makes it possible for the spacer 10 to break offwhen the insulating member 3 is to be used for a plug connector or plugwhich contains no clamping member or respectively no cable screwconnection, but for example is installed fixed to a piece of equipment.

It can be clearly seen from FIG. 3 that the latch fingers 16 formed byaxial slots and belonging to the clamping member 7 or clamping insertstand out axially over the housing 2, so that they are grasped by theunion nut 9 and can be pressed against the cable 6 by tightening theunion nut 9 on the thread 8 of the housing 2. In this assembly positionthe union nut 9 thus to some extent belongs with the housing 2 oradjoins this axially at the end opposite to the contact elements 4 orcontact pins. In a known manner, sealing rings can thereby be arrangedin the interior of the plug connector 1 at the required places.

For the assembly of the plug connector, firstly the strands 5 of thecable 6, with insulation removed, are connected to the contact elements4 and furthermore the screening 12 at the end of the cable 6 is turnedup and outward, so that this screening 12 runs over a portion of theoutside of the clamping member 7. Thereafter, the contact elements 4 arepushed into the insulating member 3 and in a known manner axially fixed,for example with a retaining clip 17. At the same time, the insulatingmember 3 can be connected by means of the spacer 10 formed as a latchfinger to the clamping member 10 and kept at the predetermined distance,so that the unit shown in FIG. 2 of insulating member 3 and clampingmember 7 is produced, with already inserted cable 6 and fixed strands 5.This unit can then in a simple manner be pushed into the housing 2 orvice versa, the housing 2 can be pushed onto this unit, until a stop 18of the clamping member comes to abut against the corresponding end.After this, all that is needed is to screw the union nut 9 on, in orderto give a finished plug connector. The assembly is thus simple and thedanger is avoided of the screening 12 reaching an undesired position oreven coming into contact with the contact elements 4.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5, the spacers 10are arranged integrally on the clamping member 7 and the insulatingmember 3 has the latch aperture formed as an annular groove 14. Apartfrom this exchange of arrangement of the spacers 10, all the otherfeatures and measures of the embodiment example according to FIGS. 1-3are also similar for the embodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5. Forexample, the outer sides of the spacers 10 have their outer surfaceabout flush with the outer side of the clamping member 7. Furthermore,also in this embodiment, in the final assembly position, the spacers 10formed as latch fingers, engaging with their latch projections 13 fromthe outside into a counter-recess or annular groove 14, are fixed by thehousing 2 enclosing them in their latched-in or holding position. Theanalog is true for the flexibility of the spacer 10 and a possiblepredetermined breaking point 15, which may however be omitted in theembodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The plug connector 1 has in a housing 2 an insulating member 3, which ina known manner receives contact elements, for example, contact pinsand/or contact sockets, which are connected to individual wires orstrands 5 of an electrical cable 6. Furthermore there belongs thereto aclamping member or clamping insert 7, in order to also fix theelectrical cable 6 relative to the housing 2, which takes place by meansof a clamping nut, preferably by a union nut 9. For a simple assembly ofthese parts and to maintain a given spacing in the axial direction, theinsulating member 3 and the clamping member 7 are connected by at leastone, and preferably a plurality of spacers 10, with a radially openinterspace 11 remaining free laterally of the spacers 10, and betweeninsulating member 3 and clamping member 7. The insulating member 3 andthe clamping member 7 are preferably separate parts, which can bereciprocally latched by the spacers 10.

1. A plug connector (1) comprising a housing (2), in which an insulatingmember (3) containing electrical contact elements (4), for examplecontact pins or contact sockets, is arranged, the contact elements (4)in a use position being connected to individual wires or strands of anelectrical cable (6), which in the use position is arranged at an axialdistance from the insulating member (3), the housing (2) of the plugconnector (1) having a counter-thread (8) for a clamping nut,particularly a union nut (9), cooperating with a clamping member (7),wherein the insulating member (3) and the clamping member (7) areconnected by at least one spacer (10) and laterally of the spacer aradially open interspace remains free between the insulating member (3)and the clamping member (7).
 2. The plug connector according to claim 1,wherein the spacer (10) is arranged generally in a region of an outerperiphery of the insulating member (3) and the clamping member (7), toconnect the insulating member and the clamping member together.
 3. Theplug connector according to claim 1, wherein the at least one spacercomprises at least two spacers (10), spaced apart and in particularextending mutually parallel to one another provided between theinsulating member (3) and the clamping member (7) and the spacers aredistributed around a periphery and have between them respectively aninterspace, which is in connection with the interspace (11) between theinsulating member (3) and the clamping member (7).
 4. The plug connectoraccording to claim 1, wherein the insulating member (3) and the clampingmember (7) are two separate single parts, which in the use position aresubsequently connected and held at a predetermined distance by thespacer(s) (10).
 5. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein alatch or snap connection is provided for connection of the insulatingmember (3) and the clamping member (7).
 6. The plug connector accordingto claim 1, wherein at least one of the spacers (10) is formed as partof a latch connection between the insulating member (3) and the clampingmember (7).
 7. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein the atleast one spacer comprises two, three, four, or more spacers (10)oriented in the axial direction, of which at least one, is formed as alatch finger, and at an end of the latch finger there is provided alatch projection (13) for latching in a counter-aperture, or latchaperture provided for engagement of a latch projection.
 8. The plugconnector according to claim 7, wherein the spacers (10) with the endsthat latch are arranged integrally on the insulating member (3), and theclamping member (7) has the latch aperture or latch apertures or latchprojections.
 9. The plug connector according to claim 7, wherein thespacers (10) are arranged integrally on the clamping member (7) and theinsulating member (3) has the latch aperture or latch apertures or latchprojections.
 10. The plug connector according to claim 7, wherein thespacers (10) are formed as the latching fingers with radially inwardlydirected latch projections (13), and a counter-recess is provided on thecounterpart member, in particular on the clamping member (7) or on theinsulating member (3), comprising an annular groove (14) into which thelatch projections of the spacers (10) can be latched.
 11. The plugconnector according to claim 10, wherein the latchable spacer(s) (10)comprise elastically flexible material and are bendable outside thehousing (2) of the plug connector (1) for releasing the latchconnection.
 12. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein thespacers (10) extend on an outside between the insulating member (3) andthe clamping member (7) and have outer surfaces nearly flush with outersides or surfaces of the insulating member (3) or the clamping member(7).
 13. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein the spacers(10) are formed as latch fingers, latching with latch projections fromoutside into a counter-recess or annular groove (14), and are fixed in alatching position by the housing (2) enclosing them in the use position.14. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein the spacer(s) (10)is/are integrally connected with one of the parts held at a spacing, inparticular with the insulating member (3) or the clamping member (7).15. The plug connector according to claim 14, wherein the integralconnection of the spacer(s) (10) with the clamping member (7) or withthe insulating member (3) has a predetermined breaking place (15).